One day - Saturday 9th October 2010

I've been very, very busy trying to dodge vendors and get to school during Hanoi's ten days of festivities; and we've been administering and marking a set of end-of-course exams and mid-course-exams.

Victor's wallet was stolen within 24 hours of arriving here. One of the new teachers told me about how her friend's bike was stolen, and her tyres were slashed, and she caught a woman with her hand in another person's bag in the crush of people that surround the roads around the lake every day and evening.

This morning I showed Victor the rooftop of the building I'm staying in, we ate breakfast in a little back alley street, then sat near the lake to watch the festivities. A grotty man in a military uniform came over and indicated he wanted a photo taken with me. I think he is mentally ill as he was touching me up all the time - so we got rid of him, then watched him go over to a younger couple of tourists and do the same thing to the woman there. Photos below.